- AOL
- My AOL
- Mail
- Make AOL My HomePage

- News
- Money
- Sports
- Technology
- Weather

x

- Jobs
- Mapquest
- Movies
- Music
- Personals
- Shopping
- Travel
- Yellow Pages

En Español

- News
- Web
- Images
- Video
- Local
- More »

- Top News
- Nation
- Elections
- World
- Entertainment
- Sports
- Business
- Weird News
- Health
- Science
- More

Send Us Feedback

## News Video

Search, view and share videos about news and entertainment from around the Web.
See Videos »

## Send to Cell

AOL Mobile offers news and other services for your cell phone. Send the link to any phone.
Send to Cell »

Also:
· Comment controls
· Frequent questions

### Blog Chatter

The tag cloud/list that appears here shows the tags that are used for blog entries. You can search for blog entries by clicking any tag. In Tag Cloud, The font size denotes how often it has been used.

What are tags?
List

- NATO
- Irish PM
- Darfur
- Autism
- Missile Defense
- Mugabe
- Cuba
- Climate Conference
- Truckers
- Spygate

- Cuba
- Autism
- Mugabe
- NATO
- Truckers
- Irish PM
- Darfur
- Climate Conference
- Missile Defense
- Spygate

### User-Submitted News

Feed

Top stories submitted and voted on from Propeller.

- Army Chief: Readiness Is Dangerously Low - Army...
- Why Did You Leave Me?
- The Top 50 Resources For Getting A Cheap Flight
- Is Mccain Fanning The Obama-clinton Flames?
- Soldier Suicides: Veterans Are Killing Themselves...

### Most Popular Stories

- UFO Photos Draw National Attention (2,468,665)
- Clinton Leads Pack in Negative Ratings (1,612,799)
- Celebs' 100 Tips for a Hollywood Body (1,453,234)
- Wal-Mart Sues Disabled Ex-Employee (1,191,483)
- Major Cities Go Dark for Earth Hour (1,174,567)

### Most Commented On

- Obama Widens Lead Over Clinton in Poll (15,402)
- Clinton Leads Pack in Negative Ratings (13,786)
- Wal-Mart Sues Disabled Ex-Employee (12,685)
- Truckers Strike to Protest Fuel Prices (9,463)
- UFO Photos Draw National Attention (8,330)

### Most Recent Comments

- ziuleka on Abberration Splits Dog's Left Leg in Two
- benjaminpittman on Ex-College Player Dies After Collapsing
- noilnacirfa on Obama Would Consider Gore for Major Post
- wheels4less on McCain Compiles List of Running Mates
- wbern77114 on Jackson's Waistline Makes Headlines

### NEWS ALERTS

Get the latest updates sent straight to your inbox.

Sign up to receive AOL News alerts by e-mail.

# Authorities say small protest broke out in China's troubled Xinjiang

By HENRY SANDERSON,
AP
Posted: 2008-04-02 02:12:15
BEIJING (AP) - Authorities confirmed that a protest broke out in a troubled Muslim region in western China last month, with one official Wednesday linking the incident to recent anti-government riots in Tibet. No injuries were reported.
Rallies were first reported by the U.S.-government funded Radio Free Asia, which said several hundred Uighurs were taken into custody after demonstrating in Hotan and a neighboring county in the Xinjiang region on March 23.
It said demonstrators were demanding that authorities not ban headscarves in the predominantly Muslim region, and that they stop torturing Uighurs and release all political prisoners.
Fu Chao, an official with the Hotan Regional Administrative Office, confirmed Wednesday that a protest had taken place, but said it was triggered by people who wanted to establish an Islamic nation and separate Xinjiang from China - not the head scarf ban.
He said the government discourages Uighur women from wearing scarves while they work because it is inconvenient, but that the practice was otherwise accepted.
"The rioters were mainly Uighurs," he said, promising to provide more information about the incident later. It had "nothing to do with the ban on head scarves, but about responding to the riots in Tibet."
A man who answered the phone at the municipal government office but refused to give his name confirmed that a protest took place, then referred all questions to the Politics and Law Committee of the local Communist Party.
A man who answered the telephone there said police took several dozen protesters into custody. Some were released after being "educated," he said without providing his name, but authorities have kept the "core splittists under custody."
The protest came as the government poured police and troops into Tibet and other areas to contain unrest in the wake of violent anti-government riots in Lhasa in mid-March. China has labeled the riots an attempt by the "Dalai clique" to split Tibet from China.
The Hotan government said on its Web site Tuesday that there were no reported injuries after last month's protest and that the situation had returned to normal. It said a small number of people - including "terrorists," "separatists" and "religious extremists" - "stirred" things up but were stopped by police.
The Radio Free Asia report said the protests were also in response to the death of a wealthy Uighur trader and philanthropist who died after two months in police custody.
Xinjiang is a predominantly Muslim region with a culture that is distinctly different from that of China's ethnic Han majority. Uighurs have been sentenced to long prison terms or death on separatism charges.
China's ethnic Han majority dominate the region's economy and government.
Last month, state media reported that a woman had confessed to attempting to hijack and crash a Chinese passenger plane from Xinjiang in what officials said was part of a terror campaign by a radical Islamic independence group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. The reports said the woman was from China's Turkic Muslim Uighur minority.
Human rights groups say China exaggerates the terrorist threat in the region in order to increase its control over the Uighur population.
The protests that took place in Tibet last month were the longest and most-sustained challenge to Chinese rule in nearly two decades. The government's subsequent crackdown has drawn international attention to China's human rights policies in the run up to this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
04/02/08 02:10 EDT
Read Related Blogs and Articles
Must Read?
0 %
0 %
0 VOTES
PRINT
SHARE
IM THIS Article to a Friend
EMAIL THIS Article to a Friend

###### Bookmark

### Recent Comments

Post Your Own

### Add your own Comments

Type your own comment here
Clear
Add

###

Mariah Carey reaches a music milestone by beating out Elvis Presley.
1 of 8

FEED

### Latest News Headlines

- Bernanke Says Recession Possible
- Labor Union, Superdelegate Endorse Obama
- NATO Aide: No Deal on Ukraine, Georgia
- McCain Compiles List of Possible Veeps
- Mugabe's Party Loses Grip on Parliament

* Want the latest Hot Seat polls delivered to your Vista desktop? Hot Seat Vista Gadget »

### CNN.com

Feed

- Pilots: Cockpit dangers being ignored
- Vaccine-autism question lands parents in court
- Jenny McCarthy says autism recovery ignored

More Stories
FEED

### Sports

- Knicks Hire Donnie Walsh As President
- Indiana Introduces Crean As Coach
- McNamee to Sell Memorabilia for Charity
- Mavs Aren't Getting Nowitzki Back Yet
- Bannister Leads Royals Past Tigers 4-0

FEED

### Money

- Wall Street Pulls Back As Oil Spikes
- Research in Motion 4Q Profit Soars
- Bernanke Says Recession Possible
- Gas, Oil Futures Jump As Demand Rises
- Best Buy Profit Falls, Still Beats View

### Technology

Feed

- Computer-Human Boundary Predicted to Evaporate by...
- How to Work On Google Docs While Offline
- 50 Cent Launches MySpace-Like Social Networking...

More Stories
FEED

### Entertainment

- Mariah Carey Surpasses Elvis in No. 1s
- CBS Reduces TV Stations' News Staffs
- Levert's Family Asks FBI to Probe Death
- 'High School Musical 3' Films in April
- Woodruff, Dozier Get Peabody Awards

### TMZ Gossip News

Feed

- Brit's Real Diet Secret? Stay 21 ... For Five...
- John McCain Is Team Heidi!
- Derek Hough Busts Out His Best C3PO

More Stories

### Top News Photos

Kai-Uwe Knoth, AP

"White Diamond," an albino alligator, floats Wednesday in a pool at a preserve in Hodenhagen, Germany.

More Photos

### Top Videos

- AP
- CNN
- Reuters

### News Bloggers

- Ada Calhoun
- Boy, 12, Kills Mother's Attacker
- 04/02/08 07:00 AM by Ada Calhoun

- Dinesh D'Souza
- The Real Problem With Darwinism
- 04/02/08 05:00 AM by Dinesh D'Souza

- Mo Rocca
- Springs Are Here!
- 04/01/08 07:00 PM by Mo Rocca

- Ben Greenman
- Hamas TV Guide
- 03/31/08 12:00 PM by Ben Greenman

- The Young Turks
- Iraqi Refugees Turn to Prostitution to Survive
- 04/02/08 05:00 AM by The Young Turks

On Our Radar >>>